Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth - Windows

Anyone with history with the Civ series knows that the games are usually rough when they first release. They're always fun, great games, but once they have a couple balance patches and maybe an expansion or two, they really shine as exceptional games. Beyond Earth, I think is no exception. Annoying bugs are present, a few aspects are annoyingly unbalanced, and the UI is a step down from Civ V, but despite these flaws, the game is great fun. It's enough different from Civ V to give experienced players a somewhat fresh experience and there's few things as satisfying as bombarding your enemy with orbital lasers while 50 foot tall, genetically engineered alien bugs lay waste to their cities. If you are happy with Civ V and don't see the appeal of a more Sci-Fi genre, pass on this game for the moment. If you have never played Civ before, I'd point you toward Civ V with both expansions, which is similar, but has had time to be refined into a masterpiece. If you are a Civ vet and want a change of pace or like the idea of a Sci Fi setting, then this is absolutely worth your money, and you probably know as well as I that given time, the Civ team will make this game absolutely fantastic.

The game, for a Civilization entry, has good graphics and is engaging to play for a few hours. Some people tried to get all sorts of achievements but even a novice player on the easiest setting will complete the game within 8 hours or so. The hangups that will stop the more-than-casual gamer is that this game is not refined. It has the feel of something that is nice and flashy but lacks substance or anything that is deep and engaging. There is really little plot to the game, the AI is very predictable after a while, there is no diplomacy angle with any of the computer players and smaller parties, and there's little that would interest a player going through it again for the 3rd time. While it may seem like groaning by arm-chair programmers, there's a reason quite a few people grumble about how it feels like an add-on to Civ5 and not a new game. I liked it because I'm a fan of the series and I knew, going in, that it would not be a refined game like the prior games with all of their add-ons and patches. Keep that in mind and you may well enjoy it.

Did you like the basic mechanics of civ 5, but wish it was in the future and on an alien planet? Well, do I have a game for you! To be fair, there are a number of changes both small and moderate that affect gameplay, but it's about 75% late game civ 5 carried beyond the normal time frame of civ 5. I enjoyed civ 5, so I've been enjoying beyond earth as well. Just like any major civ game, i'm expecting at least 2-3 expansions. These should further refine beyond earth as a significantly different game, at least I hope it will. If you like civ games, get it. If you like turn-based strategy games, get it. If you are on the fence about either of those, then maybe wait until they do a bundle release with the first expansion pack. As long as the future add-ons are the same quality as they historically are, this game will be a solid addition to the franchise.

I found this game to be a very nice edition to the Civ environment. However, I believe it lacks some interest factor. While Civilization was historically based, decision results were well planned out and made sense, Beyond Earth situations are so hypothetical that success is not clear, nor is the direction apparent. I'm sure that this is a game that requires many more hours than I have so far invested to find the true nature and I may enjoy this game more down the road, but initially, it did not totally meet my expectations.

When you pop in and play Civilization: Beyond Earth, it initially feels pretty darn familiar...and that's a good thing. If you've played 2010's Civilization V, a game that evolved over time due to game-changing additional content releases, then you'll feel right at home when you take your place on the proverbial throne. There are so many more cool little intricacies that makes Beyond Earth more than a straight up re-skinning of an old Civ game. But at its heart, the core concepts ruling our decisions continuing to primarily revolve around expansion and petty ideological differences live on. In sum, this game is an excellent alteration of a game we've all come to know and love. If you're a Civ fan, you need to get this game.

Civ BE is neat, it's a change in the way the series in general works. The AI is much weaker, as it seems to struggle with the new features, the Aliens are a bit broken - not challenging them results in dozens of aliens wandering around and they'll still kill colonists and workers, but attacking them results in a more aggressive stance, and negative rep from other civs. The tech web has a steeper learning curve than the tech tree, and it takes much more investment to figure out where you want to go. There aren't enough civs, so it makes most games feel samey.

This new Civ game is amazing, full with new techs, policies and units that will add many hours of game play exploring. The only downside I experienced was how the mechanics did not change much only an abundance of content which is great but many say it feels more like a mod than a new game.

I found that the game took a full play through to get the hang of it and my second attempt was a lot more fun as I understood how to best build on the researched technologies and obtain the victories. All in all, it's proving to be a fun game, if a bit tedious at times.